Hope Springs from Paranoia
by shellbell618
Summary: After being forced from Hershel's farm, the group sets out looking for a safe haven. While looking they meet a few survivors that impact the group significantly. One new survivor really grabs our favorite Redneck's attention.
1. Hard Decisions

**Hey everyone! So this is my first fic and any review will be awesome! Especially CONSTRUCTIVE criticism. This will be Daryl/OC fic but I have to set things up before I can get there.**

_I do not own The Walking Dead or any of its characters. I only own my own characters._

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><p>"My name is Mackenzie Renyolds. And I maybe one of the last survivors in this godforsaken land. If there is anyone else out there, anyone who may be listening at all, there I have a safe haven. I have food, water, clothes, shelter, and safety. If there is anyone out there that could use some hope, I will be at the Baptist Church on the outskirts of Sheboygan, WI every day. This is not a recording. It is November whatever 2011, not that time really means anything in the zombie apocalypse. It has been almost fourth months since the world has gone to shit. Again this is Mackenzie Renyolds and I am offering hope. Good bye."<p>

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><p><em>Hershel's Farm<em>

No one knew what to say after Rick had shot Sophia and ended her undead life. Carol lay on the ground sobbing in Daryl's arms. She kept reaching out to the shell of her daughter. Daryl just sat looking on at the remains of the girl he almost died while trying to track. She had literally been in their backyard the entire time. Not that it would have helped.

Rick let his arm drop lifelessly after taking the shot. He stared down guiltily at what was left of a sweet little girl. Suddenly he turned unable to continue to stare at the lifeless body of Sophia. As he turned he saw his wife, Lori, curled around Carl. Tears were streaming out of his blue eyes, which had already seen so much horror. Rick felt the guilt slam into him.

"This is all my fault," he whispered to himself. The weight of his decisions slammed onto his shoulders, and his knees buckled. He hit the ground and crawled over to his family to shed tears with them.

Glenn, Andrea, T-Dog and Dale just stood on looking in horror, unable to say anything. Each of them struggling to say something but incapable of finding any words. Hershel continued to sit where he had collapsed while the massacre had happened before his eyes. He couldn't believe it. These people he had known all his life, his wife and stepson, were gunned down in front of him. They had staggered out of the barn, come after the living with one intention, to feed. There was no recognition in their eyes that their prey was the people who love them. Hershel realized that those things were no longer people. The world was longer what he thought it was.

Shane was the one that broke the silence that was otherwise punctuated with the cries and sniffles of the grieving.

"We need to deal with remains. It's not safe to just leave them here. It's bound to attract more walkers." He set his rifle down, pulled out a pair of work gloves, and started to move walker bodies into a large pile. T-Dog and Glenn went and got their own gloves and started to help Shane. Lori, Carl, Hershel, and Maggie started to make their way back to the farm house. Rick and Daryl had started their part in the cleanup. While they piled corpses upon corpses Andrea took Carol from Daryl's arms and tried to lead her back to camp.

"No! Don't put her with them," cried Carol, as T-Dog picked up Sophia's body and began to place it on the growing mound of walker corpses. He stopped and looked to Shane in askance.

"She was a walker. She wasn't a human anymore; she needs to be disposed of as one," claimed Shane.

"No! She is my little girl. My beautiful little girl. She is not a walker!" spat Carol getting right in Shane's face. Shane looked at her awkwardly.

"Let her bury the girl," said Rick, trying to diffuse the situation.

Shane quickly rounded on Rick, who was hoisting the remains of a female walker clad in a dingy floral nightgown onto the top of the pile. Disbelief shot across Shane's face.

"What! You know we need to burn these bodies. The stench will attract others. That little girl was no longer a girl. I told you, Rick, you need can't make the tough choices. I'm the one who always needs to be the bad guy. I'm the one who had to get Lori and Carl out of the city. I'm the one who made sure we all survived, where we camped, who we allowed in the group.

And then what? You came back from the dead and I'm pushed to the side with nothing. What hard decisions have you made? Huh? When to move on? Yeah, that wasn't hard after the massacre that happened at the quarry. When Amy died and Andrea was forced to shoot her own sister. You didn't make that choice; you just stood by and again let someone else make it. There have been so many hard choices I've made that you can't even imagine."

At this point everyone outside was staring at him with shock. The pile of bodies left alone while other corpses still surrounded them. Everyone knew that this had been coming for a while between Rick and Shane. Shane felt like his leadership power had been usurped by Rick, and Rick didn't see it. Shane's long rant came to an end on a sigh. "You just aren't strong enough to make the hard decisions."

Rick just stared at the man he thought was his best friend. "You don't think I can make the hard decisions? I made the decision to handcuff Merle to the rooftop in Atlanta. I then decided, after finding my family, to go back to that hellhole to find him. I decided to run after Sophia when the walkers were going after her. I decided to leave her by the Creek alone. And then I took the consequences of that decision and I was the one who looked her in the eyes and shot her in the head. And you're saying that those were easy decisions? Forget it Shane."

With that Rick gave one last glance at the body of Sophia lying on the ground. He saw the blonde curly hair, her little capris and blue t-shirt, her sneakers. In her mind he saw her laughing with his son while holding her doll. He saw her playing cards with Glenn in the RV and giving Glenn a shy smile when she won a hand. He refused to see what she had become, the large chunk of her neck torn out by the walker to made her such.

Rick looked at Carol, who was back on her knees smoothing out her dead daughter's hair. Tears were dribbling down her cheeks as she cooed to her baby. "Let's go bury your daughter," he said to Carol. He leaned down and carefully scooped up the girl, ignoring the stench the reminded him of his guilt.

Carol slowly got to her feet and whispered, "Thank you so much, Rick." Around them the rest of the men had gotten back to work, stacking the bodies. 

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><p><strong>Review please!<strong>


	2. Questions

As the men started to clean up the bodies of the walkers, Lori got to her feet. She pulled Carl to his and started to lead him back to the farmhouse. She divided her attention between her destination and her heartbroken son. He kept looking of his shoulder to glance at what was happening in front of the barn.

Lori was in shock. She knew it shouldn't have come as a shock that Sophia had been turned, but she had held on to some hope that they would find her Carl's best friend. Granted though, she didn't think of Sophia too much within the last few days. She had been focused on Carl's gunshot wound and his recuperation. Then while he had mended she had realized her pregnancy. The thought of her unborn baby set Lori stumbling. Carl steadied his mother. He looked into her face, concern taking the place of sorrow in his blue eyes. But then his gaze was drawn back over his shoulder again, filled with pain once more.

How will I do this, thought Lori. They hadn't been able to keep Sophia safe. It should have been easier with Sophia. She knew the risks, knew how to stay quiet. How would they be able to keep the group safe with a baby? For the millionth time since she found out, Lori wondered if she did the right thing by throwing up the pills and telling Rick.

Lori and Carl finally reached the front porch of the house. They stepped into the blessed coolness of the house. At least there was some reprieve from the blasted Georgia heat. That was the about the only thing that Lori could give praise for at that moment. They saw Maggie guiding Hershel behind them. Hershel looked to be dazed, almost catatonic. Lori held the door open for Maggie. Maggie threw her a grateful look as she helped her aging father through the door. Lori started to follow them into the house, but a tug on her arm stopped her.

Carl had stood watching the men of the group down by the barn clearing up the mess of walkers. He turned to look at his mom and caught her before she walked in behind Hershel and Maggie.

"Mom, I should go down and help them," he stated quietly. Lori just stood there gaping at her son. He was Rick's son, always feeling like he had to take everyone's burden on his shoulders.

"No," she stated, turning to walk into the house again.

"But Mom-"

Lori whirled around to face her son. Her face pinched in anger. "I said no! I know you want to be an adult. In fact you've seen more than any adult should see, much less a boy your age. So I'm sorry if I want to preserve that last shred of innocence you possess. I will not let you go and help them. You do not need to see the thing that Sophia has become. You, and the rest of us, should remember how she was. You do not need to be a part of the 'clean-up crew.' Now, march your butt inside. We need to see if Maggie needs any help with Hershel."

With that Lori stepped out of the doorway and held open it open for Carl to precede her into the cool house. Carl gave one forlorn look over his shoulder towards the barn. He understood what his mom was saying but that didn't stop him from feeling like he wasn't doing his part. He figured if he was old enough to handle and shoot a gun, he was old enough to carry the burden of the other men too. With these thoughts, he shuffled into silent house.

Lori watched Carl enter the house with his head down and a look of determination on his face. She understood he wanted to help and pull his weight with the group. She, however, wanted him to enjoy being a child for as long as possible in this new unforgiving world. She already felt as if she had failed on that account. She wondered what would happen now that he was the only child in the group. Who would he talk to? Would he end up being an old man before he turn 16? Would he even reach 16?

All these worries ran through Lori's head as she gave one last glance toward the barn. As she did so, she saw Rick and Shane locked in a show down. Who knew what they were fighting about this time, but Lori felt that it would get worse before it got better. She gave a shrug knowing that she couldn't help them without making it worse. With that she turned and walked into the house.

Lori and Carl entered the kitchen to find Hershel, Maggie, and Patricia already there. Patricia was bustling around the kitchen wiping down counters. Once she made sure the counters were spotless, she started on the kitchen sink. She was filled with nervous energy and she knew the most productive way of ridding herself of it was to clean.

Maggie had helped her dad from the after math of the massacre by the barn up to the house. She got him into the kitchen and settled in one of the kitchen chairs. She then went about heating some water up to make tea. She would have preferred coffee but it took a while to make coffee these days. And her father needed something now, hence the tea.

She heard more people enter the kitchen. Maggie turned to see who had followed them into the house. She saw Lori and Carl step into the kitchen. Carl made his way over to the table and sat across from Hershel. He turned his attention to the window. He sat there staring out across the fields of the farm, without saying anything.

"Would you like some tea? I know it's warm out but we could all use the comfort," offered Maggie.

"Thank you, Maggie. Tea would be nice," said Lori.

"Patricia?"

"No, thanks. I have too much to do," said Patricia as she started to manually clean the stove.

"Carl?"

"Huh? What-?" said Carl, finally being pulled out his thoughts.

"Would like tea?" asked Maggie.

"No, thank you. Could I just have water instead?"

"Sure, Carl. Let me just finish getting your mom's tea ready. Then I'll get you some water," promised Maggie.

"Maggie, don't worry about it. I'll get him some water. I'll get it. I need to keep moving," said Patricia. She got a new glass out of the cupboard next to the sink. She washed it out again, meticulously making sure there wasn't any dust inside. She then wiped it down and filled it up. She then set it in front of Carl.

"Carl, what do you say?" prompted Lori. Just because the world had gone to the walkers didn't mean her son's manners had to slack.

"Thank you, Patricia," said Carl dutifully.

They all settled down and started to sip at their drinks. Everyone's mind focused on what had just happened. Maggie's eyes drifted toward the refrigerator and the pictures hung there. Her eyes glazed over in tears. Pictures of her mother and brother, happy memories. It had been hard enough when they thought that the people in the barn had been sick. Now there was no coming back for them. They would never be cured, even if they could have been. She had only her father left.

Hershel sat staring at the untouched mug of tea in front of him. Where had everything gone wrong? How had he been so wrong? Were those people just sick or had the deputy been right? Could they feel anything? It wasn't natural that a person could take bullets to the torso and not even flinch. If his guest were right, what hope was left? What life did Maggie and Jimmy have left for them? These thoughts and questions tumbled through the vet's head with no answers forthcoming.

Patricia had thought about continuing her cleaning spree but suddenly she felt so tired. The last few days had taken their toll on her. She felt like she had aged twenty years. She had barely been able to focus on anything around her. She could only see that she had been left behind. Otis was dead and she felt like an outsider within the family. She too had lost all hope.

Each person was focused on their own thoughts as they drank their beverages. The silence was broken by Carl. "What happens now? Are we going to stay here or move on? I mean now that know…"

Lori looked at her son helplessly. She glanced at Hershel to see what he was thinking, but he was still staring at his tea. She then looked at Maggie who quickly averted her eyes. She opened her mouth to answer Carl. Just then Rick walked into the kitchen and all eyes flew to him. He had sweat dripping off of him. He was covered in filth and he brought the stench of death into the house.

"We're going to have a funeral for Sophia as soon as me and rest of the men and clean up a bit. Carol wants everyone to be there. It's the least we could do. I mean as long as Hershel doesn't object," said Rick while looking at Hershel. Hershel pulled himself way from his thoughts long enough to wave a hand at Rick, signaling his acquiescence.

"Ok then. We'll all meet by Otis's grave in a little bit." Rick stuck around long enough to see everyone nod their agreement.

After he left, Lori turned back to Carl to finally answer his question about staying, "We'll have a meeting after Sophia's funeral, ok?" That was the best answer she could give him. They would just have to hope and wait and see.


End file.
